7/12/11-Wow, it's been like a month since I've updated the symptom journal. Can you tell it's summer and we've been busy? Anyway, things were going really well until we went to Portland. The trip itself was great, but all the playing with cousins and running around really set off the arthritis. We arrived on Saturday the 2nd, and by the 4th, Siobhan was already starting to show the signs of wear and tear. We went to the lake across the street from my grandma's house and she needed to be carried part of the way around. From then on, it was kind of all down hill. She was really sore the whole week mainly in her ankle. She did a lot of limping and goofy walking. She's still at it now, so I'm sure it's not better yet.
6/17/11-It seems as though Siobhan is suffering more from the side effects of her meds than the side effects of the arthritis. Booo! I can't wait until she's done with the prednisone! Just a few more weeks. We've started the taper though, but I can't see much difference in her behavior, in fact, I see no difference.
6/13/11-It makes me sad when Siobhan comes upstairs in the morning and tells me that her knees hurt. When she came up, I was stretching after my run which she normally wants to do with me. Today she didn't want to because she couldn't bend her knees that way. It made me sad for her. But on the upside, I think the evening anxiety is getting better. Not all the way, but better and that's a step in the right direction.
6/9/11-Things have been improving a lot. We still deal with a fare amount of morning stiffness but we can definitely tell that something from the pharmacy of medicine that Siobhan's taking is doing the trick. The amount that she can bend her knee is improving a lot! Kind of a drag though that she going to have to stay on the meds in order to keep it that way.
6/6/11-Over the weekend, Siobhan was limping a lot and complaining a lot about being stiff. Today was much better with all of that.
6/1/11-Siobhan complained a lot last night about her knees and ankles hurting. She goes and goes and goes all day and then ends up hurting before bed, which then causes her to have trouble sleeping. Fun! She's also been more willing to admit that she's sore/stiff in the morning. Hunger side effects in full swing. This girl is hungry all the time!!!
5/27/11-We're on our second day of the prednisone and Siobhan had her first shot of methatrexate yesterday. We haven't experienced any noticeable side effects aside from maybe a little bit of hunger. With all of these medication and supplements, I really hope they help!
5/26/11-Siobhan is begging me for her own rice heating pad, so that's the project for this morning made out of mermaid fabric. The Dr said yesterday day that the insomnia is probably a coping mechanism for anxiety so we're going to try to find ways to mitigate that. Lat night, Siohban had a hard time getting to sleep. We broke the news to her that she's going to start having to get shots once a week and that was causing her to be really nervous. We'll see how she does today with her first one. We started her on the prednisone and I'm interested/anxious to see how it effects her.
5/23/11-Rough night last night. When Carson and I went to bed at about midnight, Siobhan was still up crying saying that her knees hurt and wanted to sleep with us in our bed. It's interesting that she hadn't really ever complained before and how that we have a diagnosis, she is. I think that's for two reasons. First, maybe she's always been in pain and now she has something to attribute it to and now she does. Second, she's milking it. I think it could be a healthy dose of both. She's been on the meds for a little over ten days, and it doesn't seem to be helping the inflammation at all.
5/22/11-As per usual, Siobhan woke up saying her knees hurt. I've taken a different outlook on checking her symptoms so rather than asking her every morning, I let her come to me. She complained about her knees hurting all during Stake Conference and they were swollen as usual. She took a nap, because she was up all night, with a heating pad under her knees and it seemed to feel good, so she's sleeping with it on her knees tonight. It's not an electric heating pad though. It's a tube of fabric with rice in it that we heat in the microwave. We'll see how it goes.
5/20/11-Siobhan woke up stiff today. She said she doesn't want to go to dance class today because it makes her tired and it hurts her knees and ankles. We're going to give it a try anyway.
5/18/11-We found Siobhan up and going this morning (middle of the night) at 2am saying that she hadn't been asleep at all and that she was waiting for morning. I'm wondering if the insomnia could be related to the JRA as this happens a lot throughout the week. I worry about it though because the JRA can cause anemia and thus fatigue. It think the two put together could pose a problem. They may not be related but they may be. Another note for the rheumatologist next week. Siobhan also woke up saying that she didn't want to go to school because it makes her tired. About to give her the meds.
5/17/11-This morning, Siobhan woke up saying that her knees were hurting and her right ankle was sore. Even though the x-ray showed arthritis in her left ankle, she has yet to complain that it bothers her.
